Economic and environmental concerns are providing incentives to reduce the production and use of disposable packaging. In the field of cosmetic dispensers, the outer, or master case may be an expensive, aesthetically appealing case, or may be made or finished with precious materials, making it desirable to permit reuse of the case. However, there are competing concerns of hygiene and product damage that arise when a lipstick case is to be refilled. It is very important to the reputable manufacturer of cosmetics that the lipstick cartridge not be useable unless it is installed in a master case. This is desirable to prevent a consumer from using the cartridge without the case, a procedure likely to damage the cosmetic stick. A cartridge that locks a retracted cosmetic in place would also be desirable to minimize the possibility of damage to the stick during transport.
Conventional propel/repel lipstick dispensers typically have an outer helical track cam sleeve and a longitudinal track innerbody rotatable inside the cam sleeve to axially propel and retract an elevator cup with a lug or lugs that track in the cam track and in the longitudinal track. Relative rotation between the cam sleeve and the innerbody axially propels and retracts the elevator cup which holds a cosmetic stick.
It has been known to use a plug to fit into a bottom aperture of an innerbody to retain an annular weight to the dispenser, as shown in Oses, U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,324; and to use such a plug to retain a base to an innerbody, as disclosed in U.K. Patent Application GB 2245544. However, none of the known references teach a method of locking a retracted elevator cup within a cartridge, while providing an apparatus to automatically unlock the elevator cup when the cartridge is assembled to a base of a master case.